INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH

Muluken et al., Vol.9, No.3, September, 2019

Economics of Hydro-Kinetic Turbine for off-grid

Application: A Case Study of Gumara River, Upper
Blue Nile, Amhara, Ethiopia
Muluken Temesgen Tigabu*‡, Dawit Diriba Guta**, Bimrew Tamrat Admasu*
*Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Bahirdar Energy Centre, BahirDar Institute of Technology, BahirDar
University, Bahirdar P.O.BOX 26, Ethiopia
**Centre for Environment and Development Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa
P.O.BOX 1176, Ethiopia
(mulhtemz@gmail.com, dawit.diriba@aau.edu.et, betselotbim@gmail.com)
‡
Corresponding Author; Muluken Temesgen Tigabu, P.O.BOX 26, Bahirdar, Ethiopia, Tel: +251913833895,
mulhtemz@gmail.com
Received: 06.06.2019 Accepted:13.08.2019

Abstract- This paper examines the economics of Hydro-kinetic turbines (HKTs) to investigate the possibility of usage in rural
areas, where the grid is not available. In support of the different efforts endeavored by the Ethiopian Government to increase
the availability of electricity. This study was carried out in the Gumara River, upper Blue Nile, Amhara Region Ethiopia. The
energy demand of a representative household family is selected for this study. We implemented the most commonly used
domestic home appliances for the model with a total wattage of 2.625kW at base load and 4.147 kW at peak load. The total
daily power demand of the typical household in the area is 19.26 kWh/day. Then to determine costs of HKTs we used the Life
Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) methodology. The initial capital cost, replacement cost, and operating and maintenance cost were
calculated to determine the economics of HKTs. Then, we applied the HOMER software system design of 5 kW HKTs and 2.5
kW diesel generator to estimate the economics cost of HKTs. In our study, we used $20 per metric ton of carbon emission
penalty. The IRR was estimated to be 17.4% and the payback period of 5.6 years with present worth of $4826, and the total
Net Present Value of $89,764. The estimated Levelized cost of energy was about $0.42. Our finding indicated that the HKTs
technology is economically and technically viable energy option for small scale off-grid electrification. This work also alludes
to risk analysis on HKTs.
Keywords Hydro Kinetic turbines (HK), Energy Economics, Levelized Cost of Energy, HOMER Pro.

1. Introduction Solar, Hydro-power, Wind, Geothermal, Ocean, Biomass

Energy issues have been analyzed from an economic
perspective for more than a century [1]. This is due to energy
being a vital component for economic development, it is a
key element in each sector of economic activities [2]. As a
result, nations have started to develop and use available
energy resources to foster their economic growth. Moreover,
the need to transit overreliance on traditional energy sources
towards modern energy sources remains important to achieve
energy security and reduce poverty in off-grid areas of
developing countries. Furthermore, conventional energy
sources (such as oil, gas, and coal) are the primary choice to
use as energy sources. But their excessive use leads to
increase in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental
damage [3], which open a door to another alternative
(renewable) energy sources. To circumvent these problems,
policymakers and engineers have given increasing attention
to the development of alternative energy sources such as
resources. Over conventional energy sources, renewable
energy sources have different advantages:- Eco-friendliness,
renewability, less maintenance of facilities, cleanness
(improved public health), and enriching energy security [4].
Among these renewable energy sources, Hydro-power,
which uses water to generate power, is one of the oldest
forms of energy source, matured technology, cheap
alternative (in case of Ethiopia) [5]. In the year 2017, 26.5%
world energy consumption was renewable electricity, and
among this 16.4 % was from hydro-power [6]. In Ethiopian
share of hydro-power generation is about 2.55 GW which
accounted for 90% of total power generated [7].
Based on type energy used to generate power, Hydro-
power can be classified as, 1) Conventional Hydro-power,
which uses static head to extract power and, 2) Hydro-
kinetic turbines (HK) which uses the kinetic energy of water
to extract power from running water current (velocity of
water) [8]. Due to huge investment requirement to construct
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH
Muluken et al., Vol.9, No.3, September, 2019
dams, the complexity of turbines and effect on Eco-system This study was conducted in Gumara River, which is
considerable criticisms has been raised on conventional located in the upper Blue Nile. The study area is situated in
hydro-power [9]. A study of Kumar et al. [10] showed that Fogera Woreda, South Gonder, Amhara National State of
the impact of dams and its catchments at different scales Ethiopia. The city of Gumara is located 45km from the
needs an urgent policy on the global scale to deal with Green regional capital city, Bahirdar. The river is one of the major
House Gas Emissions from Hydropower reservoirs. As a tributaries of Lake Tana in the upper Blue Nile. River
result, the hydro-kinetic technology is regarded an as suitable Gumara originates from the Guna mountains south and east
option for small-scale power generation such as application of Debre Tabor at an altitude of approximately 3250 m [19].
for a household in off-grid electricity generation as compared The river flows westwards for 132.5 km until it reaches Lake
to the dam-based hydro-power technology [8, 11]. Hence, Tana. The level of this shallow lake, the largest of Ethiopia
the footprint created by hydro-kinetic turbines is small as [19] makes suitable for application of Hydro kinetic-turbines.
compared to the dam-based hydro-power technology [12]. Figure 1 shows the total catchment and site location of the
Hydro-kinetic energy converters can tap into the following study area.
types of resources: inland (rivers), tidal, ocean (currents),
Irrigation and other man-made canals [13, 14]. Previously
feasibility and techno-economic study of hydro-kinetic
power generation for use of small-scale hydropower
generation especially for off-grid application were studied by
Juan et al. and Kanzumba et al. [15, 16]. A similar study of
Dhakal et al. [17] showed that gravitational powered HKTs
can be easily installed in existing water infrastructures with
the cost ranging from $1021-$1261 with generator capacity
of 1.6kW.
This paper aims to investigate the economics of hydro-
kinetic turbines for remote area application. The study also
provides a comparative analysis of HK use to examine its
possible application for 1) Individual Residents or
Community, 2) Private Sector or Government. This case
Fig. 1. Gumara river catchment area [19]
study was undertaken along the bank of river Gumara, in the
upper Blue Nile of Ethiopia. Farmers living along the river The Catchment area has steep with slopes (frequently above
bank uses diesel-powered water pump for irrigation. 25%) in the high mountainous region in the east, and gentle
Household in the area use bio-mass for cooking need and slopes (below 3%) towards Lake Tana having an average
kerosene for lighting. The day to day activity of the framers slope of 15% [19]. Majority of the catchment area near the
is affected significantly by escalating fuel price. These have banks used for irrigation as it is shown in Figure 1.
provided to investigate the economics of Hydropower According to the Ministry of water, irrigation, and energy
application. (MoWIE) of Ethiopia, hydrological gauging station the
deepest point in the river bed is 2.91m [19] with an average
Since technology development and market penetration of width of the river is 34.9m.
Hydro-kinetic turbine is in infancy stage [9, 18], this paper
aims to investigate and study the economics of Hydrokinetic 2.2. Economic Parameters
turbines to determine investment cost required to develop the
The Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and analysis of
resource for sustainable off-grid clean energy provision. For
investment risk were used to study the economics of Hydro
this purpose, we used a Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA)
Kinetic turbine. LCCA is the most widely used method for
method to determine investment cost including initial capital
assessing the total cost of facility ownership. It takes into
cost (purchase, construction, installation, and shipping),
account all costs of acquiring, owning, and disposing of an
operating and maintenance costs, replacement cost and
energy system [20]. In the LCCA we considered three types
residual values (salvage values). Similarly, cost penalties for
of costs: 1) initial capital cost (cost related to component
emissions of pollutants analyses were used to estimate the
purchase, construction, installation, assembly, and shipping,
carbon saving of HK technologies. Further to investigate the
operating and maintenance costs), 2) replacement cost, and
economic feasibility of HK we estimated the Net present
3) Residual values (Salvage values). As compared to several
value, payback period, IRR, cash flow and return of
economic evaluation methods, the LCCA provides a
investment. In addition, for system modelling 2.5 kW diesel
straightforward and easy-to-interpret measure of economic
generators were used as a backup system. The economic
evaluation. LCCA also includes several economic indicators
study was done with the help of economics analysis software
such as internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value
package Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable
(NPV), theses make LCCA more powerful than other
(HOMER Pro).
economic evaluation methods.
2. Materials and Method The economics of HK is assessed by estimating the Net
Present Value (NPV). The NPV is a standard method for
2.1. Description of the study area estimating the time value of money to appraise long-term

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projects. The Net Present Value (NPV) of HK investment resource assessment to characterize and quantify the energy
project is computed using the following formula [1]; resource specifically for hydrokinetic systems. Available
river databases are not suited for Hydro-kinetic energy
Ao A1 An analysis, the available data is on river discharge [26]. These
NPV=- 0
+ 1
+...+ (1)
(1+i) (1+i) (1+i) n data used for assessing resource potential in the annual report
of monthly average instantaneous flow from the river during
Where n is the service life of the project, i is an interest rate 1993-2016. The data was compiled from the Ministry of
that the investment wishes to earn and A0 is net cash flow. water, irrigation, and energy (MoWIE) of Ethiopia, this data
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is used to rank the projects. contains an average daily flow rate in m3/s of each month.
The IRR of a project greater than the inflation rate is
considered to economically feasible. The formula for
estimating IRR is given as [1];
Ao A1 An
0=- 0
+ 1
+...+ (2)
(1+i) (1+i) (1+i) n
2.3. Carbon Saving
As of today, environmental pollution becomes a great
concern, the role of renewable energy sources in
environmental protection extensively studied in [21–23]. In
the path of achieving to protect the environment, in this study
we included carbon saving potential of Hydro-kinetic
turbines. Currently, in the study area, diesel and bio-mass are Fig. 2. Historical discharge of Gumara River
a primary energy source which has a carbon footprint of Figure 2 shows the average flow rate of each month in which
400g of CO2 eq/kWh and 237g of CO2 eq/kWh respectively the data recorded from historical data for 23 years (1993-
[24]. There are two approaches to estimate carbon saving of 2016). The data illustrates that 50% of the flow rate lies in
energy technologies. These are 1) Cap and trade instrument the range of 1-10 m3/s, 20% of the flow rate lies in the range
which states paying the energy producers the amount of of 15-20 m3/s and 30% of the flow rate lies in the range of
carbon saved, amount of tariff set by Governments, and 2) 100-250 m3/s. Even-though, the historical flow rate of the
Taxing the polluter sectors by quantity of pollutant emitted. Gumara River is available for 23 years, the data is not
In this study to estimate the amount of carbon saved by using directly suitable to predict the power production. For
Hydro-kinetic turbines, a carbon cap, and trading approach Hydrokinetic turbine application velocity of the river is an
was used. Hence the proposed technology of HK turbine will important factor. For this study, a direct, measurement of the
produce energy without polluting the environment, the best Gumara river water current (velocity) by using a Valeport
model which constitute this is carbon and trade approaches. BFM002 S-N 2065 Hydrological survey was done at 7
With a stronger carbon emissions price through cap and trade different potential places. Table 1 shows the directly
approach will facilitate the sustainability and measured velocity of the river at 7 different places along the
implementations of HK turbines. Different studies estimated river to determine the appropriate site and high resource
price of carbon saving recently. For instance, a study found potential site, according to the measured data specific site
the price to be about $20 per metric ton to be $80 per metric location at LAT. 11.88, LONG. 37.69 And ALT 1790 m with
ton by year 2030 [25]. 2.4 m/s is suitable with highest stream velocity.
2.4. Uncertainty and Risk
Table 1. The velocity of Gumara River at different segment
The term uncertainty and risk are applied to unknown
outcomes of an unquantifiable situation [1]. In economics, LAT LONG ALT in m Velocity in m/s
risk is a quantity subject to empirical measurement and the 11.70 37.63 1802 1.3
probabilities of alternative possible outcomes. In this study 11.81 37.65 1796 1.4
instead of empirical measurements, a risk matrix is used. 11.862 37.67 1795 1.6
The risk matrix is used because it is the most useful 11.84 37.67 1793 1.65
qualitative risk analysis technique. Risk matrix typically is a 11.86 37.68 1791 1.8
two-dimensional matrix where one axis categorizes the risk 11.88 37.69 1790 2.4
in terms of qualitative probability (low, medium and high) of 11.89 37.69 1788 2.1
occurrence of outcomes and the other axis identifies the
seriousness of impacts of these risks in qualitative terms
(low, medium, high) [1]. The monthly average velocity distribution of the river
Gumara is showed in Figure 3.
2.5. Resource Assessment of Gumara River
Hydro-kinetic systems convert kinetic energy from flowing
water into electricity, or other forms of energy. Accurate
predictions of the electricity that would be generated needs

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Fig. 3. Average monthly water velocity
The cut-in current river velocity required for hydrokinetic
turbines is 0.5 m/s, according to Figure 3 the minimum
velocity occurs in dry season of May as 0.97 m/s which is
slightly above the cut-in speed, where power generation
starts and the maximum stream velocity recorded was in
August 3 m/s, where maximum (Rated) power generated.
2.6. Energy Demand Profile of Local Energy Consumers
For versatile use of Hydro-kinetic Turbine to power residents
live along the riverside it is important to determine the
energy demand profile of taking different scenarios as:
• The household has decided to switch to
Hydrokinetic turbine
• The consumer has decided only to use the types of
appliances to be used as shown in Table 2
• The consumer has decided to use daily energy from
6 to 23 hr for the appliance as shown in Figure 4.
The primary residential energy demands of the residents are
heating and lighting. The residents use biomass to meet the
heating and cooking energy needs while kerosene is used for
lighting. To determine domestic energy need, we collect a
data from a representative family on type of domestic
appliance, amount, hour of usage per day, wattage and daily
power demand as given in is Table 2.
Fig. 4. A daily energy usage profile
According to our survey daily consumed the energy of the
selected representative family is 19.26 kWh/day as given in
Table 2. Figure 4 shows the daily wattage profile of the
domestic appliance. As the figure illustrates most of the peak
load occurs at 6, 19 and 20 hrs, no-load from 0 to 5 hrs of the
day and baseload for the rest of the day.
Peak load is used to describe a period in which electrical
power is expected to be provided for a period significantly
higher than average supply level. Peak load fluctuation may
occur on daily, monthly, seasonal and yearly cycles. Daily
total energy demand is 2.625 kW to find the peak load a 1.58
load correction factor was used; therefore, the design is at
peak load of the demand which is 4.147 kW.
2.7. Hydro-kinetic Turbine Selection
Hydro-kinetic turbines are similar to wind turbine devices in
terms of design, operation and working principle. This makes
them easy to install with-out constructions of impoundment
or river diversion. There are numerous efforts in developing
portable Hydrokinetic turbine by the different developer to
further make the application and usage more versatile.
Different variety of these turbines are available on the
market, the most popular manufacturers are listed in Table 3.
For this case study, New Energy (Canada) Vertical axis
Hydro-kinetic turbines 5 kW EVG 005H for residential
household energy demand was considered for appraisal
option. According to the website of the company, these
turbines are especially suited for residences, farms, remote
installations, and small communities where the requirement
for electricity is modest or resource available is limited in
size. Figure 5 shows the power curve provided by the
company website, which depicts that the system can run up
to 24 hours, and it is suitable to power critical appliances.
Fig. 5. The power curve of EVG 005H [27]
3. Economic Analysis
To conduct the economic analysis of the HK Capital Cost,
Replacement Cost, O&M, Real interest rate, Cost Recovery
Factor, Net Present Value (NPV), IRR annual cost, annual
benefit, and cash flow diagram are employed for this study.
Major economics parameters that were considered are given
in Table 3:
3.1. Initial Capital Cost
The initial capital cost is the sum of the turbine system cost
and the balance of station cost, which includes a turbine,
generator,
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Table 2. Domestic appliances energy profile

Appliance Wattage each in W Amount Wattage total in W Usage Hour per day Daily power usage in kWh/day
Cooking 2000 1 2000 7 14
Bulb 60 6 360 8 2.88
TV (21'') 200 1 200 8 1.6
Radio 20 2 40 12 0.48
Mobile charging 5 5 25 12 0.3
Total 2,625 19.26

Table 3. Manufacturers of Hydro-kinetic turbines [28]

Manufacturer Type of turbine Rated Power kW Rated speed m/s
Ocean Renewable Power Corp. Horizontal axis 50 3
New Energy Corp. Vertical axis 5/10/25/125 0.5-2.4
Energy Alliance (Russia) Cross axis 5 3
Lucid Energy Gorlov (Helical) 5/10 0.6
Alternative Hydro Solutions Ltd. Cross axis 2/3 1.25

Table 4. Economic parameters

Metric Value Reference Table 5. O&M cost pattern
The nominal interest 9.5 National Bank of Ethiopia
Year O&M cost
rate in % [29]
Annual inflation in 11 National Bank of Ethiopia 1-5 1.5 % of capital cost
% [29] 6-10 1.5 % of capital cost + 1.5 % of previous O&M
Project life in year 25 11-15 1.5 % of capital cost + 3 % of previous O & M
Replacement in year 8 16-20 1.5 % of capital cost + 4.5 % of previous O&M
21-25 1.5 % of capital cost + 6 % of previous O&M
Power electronics devices, foundation, installation, shipping
costs. These costs do not include financing fees, because Computing the total value of O&M cost based on given
these are calculated and added separately through the fixed O&M cost pattern for 25 years life span of the turbine a total
charge rate. The costs also do not include a debt service of $1,739.6 is needed, which is equivalent cost of 86.98
reserves fund, which is assumed to be zero for balance sheet $/year.
financing. The total initial capital cost required for 5 kW
EVG 005H hydro Kinetic Turbine is $22,500 [27]. 3.4. Diesel Generator and Battery Economics

3.2. Replacement Cost
Replacement cost is a reducing fund factor to cover long-
term replacements and repairing of major turbine
components, such as blades and generators. The replacement
cost is used to calculate the annualized replacement cost and
this cost is not meant to account for inflation. For this study
the replacement cost for 5 kW EVG 005H taken as equal to
the investment cost.
3.3. Operations and Maintenance Cost (O&M Cost)
Operations and Maintenance Cost (O&M) covers the day to
day scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and operations
cost of cost in-cured running a Hydro-kinetic turbine.
Different designs, due to varying complexity, may have
different O&M costs. However, many new configurations
have insufficient operating experience to extract a
meaningful O&M cost history. Hence, for this study the
operation and maintenance cost was estimated in such a way
that the operation year was divided into 5 groups and we
considered the following cost pattern as given in Table 5:
Currently resident around Gumara River uses biomass for
heating need, and for lighting, local households use kerosene,
diesel generator, and solar panel. For this study, only a diesel
generator is considered to compare the economic cost with
hydro-kinetic turbines. A 2.5kW diesel generator as a backup
system is used, the initial capital cost of such generators
reaches up to $2500, O&M cost is about 2% of the capital
cost, the replacement cost is the same as the initial capital
cost of the generator, this generator consumes 0.74 l/hr of
fuel. To store the amount of excess electricity produced a
1kWh Lead Acid battery was used in system modelling,
which has a capital cost of $300.
4. Result and Discussion
4.1. System Configuration and Modelling
To Study Economics of Hydrokinetic turbine, a stand-alone
hybrid system optimization program released by the US
National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in 2000 HOMER
Pro v3.11.65 is used. The program allows for flexible
renewable energy hybrid system design using a library of

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components that can be inserted into the system, including a
diverse set of electricity generators, energy storage, and load
options [30]. In Homer Pro hydrokinetic is includes as a
component system shown in Figure 6, previous feasibility
studies conducted by [16] was assuming as wind turbine by
replacing the wind turbine power-curve with the HK power
curve of the selected hydrokinetic turbine by altering the
wind speed information with the river current velocity [31].
Fig. 6. Component list available in Homer Pro
To study the economics of hydrokinetic turbines a system
design was developed in HOMER Pro, the design includes A
5 kW hydrokinetic turbine, a 2.5 kW diesel generator for
back up and to store excess electrolytic produced a 1 kWh
battery with AC to DC converters used for modelling as
shown in Figure 7.
Fig. 7. System Design Used
Homer Pro then simulate a viable system for all possible
combinations of the equipment, After 129 feasible system
simulation the wining system is shown in Figure 8 with the
Net present value of $89,764, initial capital cost requirement
of the system is $29,671, the Levelized cost of energy
(LCOE) which is $0.425 and 81.4% renewable resource
penetration which means only 18.6% of energy will be
needed form the diesel generator.
Fig. 8. Overall results
4.2. Economics of Hydro Kinetic Turbine
Economic constraints that were used in the model are the
discount interest rate of 9.5%, an inflation rate of 11% with
Project life span of 25 years which are the primary criterion
to calculate the present worth of HK project, the IRR and
payback period of the system configuration.
Table 6 shows an optimized result for the current base
system selected which contain Hydrokinetic turbine with
back up diesel generator for this system the present worth is
about $4,826, the annual worth of $161, IRR of 17.4% and
the payback period of 5.16 years.
Table 6. Economics result of hydrokinetic turbine
Metric Value
Net Present Value $ 89,764
Present worth $ 4,826
Annual worth $/year 161
Return of investment % 13
Internal rate of return % 17.4
Simple payback 5.16 years
Discount payback 5.14 year
Figure 9 shows cash flow expenses of the project for 25
years life span as capital, replacement, salvage, operating and
fuel cost.
Fig. 9. Cash flow diagram
4.3. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)
The Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a measure of the
cost of a power source which compares different methods of
electricity generation on a consistent basis. It is an economic
assessment of the average total cost to build and operate a
power-generating asset over its lifetime divided by the total
energy output of the asset over that lifetime. The LCOE can
also be regarded as the average minimum cost at which
electricity must be sold in order to break-even over lifetime
of the project. From our result, the estimated Levelized cost
is about $0.425.
4.4. Monthly Energy Production and Emission
The system configuration uses diesel generator as back up to
the HK power generation. Our findings show that from the
total of 19,459 kWh/year energy demand 18,146 kWh/year
power comes from Hydrokinetic turbine and the remaining
1,313 kWh/year is from 2.5 kW Diesel generator. Hence the
majority of the electricity is coming from Hydrokinetic
turbine as shown in Figure 10. However, during the dry
months from March to April and May the diesel generator
cover the majority of the power have required because the
river flow rate decreased. Whereas in rainy season 11,884
kWh/year excess electricity is produced, which can be stored
in battery and at LCOE $0.425 the excess electricity can be
sold to other community.
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Our study showed that the interest of private investors to
invest in renewable energy posed a risk of a high probability
of impacts. To mitigate the risks the government should
follow the energy subsidy policy to render positive
externalities. Energy subsidy policy should include
favourable loans, tax credits and deductions, and Feed-in
Tariffs.
5. Conclusion
Fig. 10. Monty electricity production
The aim of this paper was to study the economics HKTs
Figure 10 shows that above 80% of electricity comes from turbines for rural application to meet the electricity demand
renewable energy. This shows that the HK-diesel hybrid of residents. A specific site at Gumara River in the upper
energy system will result in carbon emission reduction. Since Blue Nile with an average water speed of 2 m/s is used,
18,146 kWh/year energy is produced form HK the equivalent which is suitable for HK application. A HOMER software
amount of carbon emission reduction by using HKTs was was used to study economics by using a New Energy EVG
calculated by using 0.4 kg of CO2 eq/kWh as a factor 7,258.4 005H 5 kW HK turbine with a 2.5 kW back up diesel
kg of CO2 eq/year (7.258 ton of CO2 eq/year) can be saved. generator. According to the study an $89,764 Net present
Hence, applying carbon cap and trading price of $20 per value is calculated. The system worth $161 per year with the
metric ton, a total of $145.16 can be recovered yearly. simple payback period of 5.16 years. The IRR calculated is
Through 25 years life of the project, $3629 will be generated 17.4%, usually, if IRR is greater than the inflation rate,
from carbon trade, as a result, this carbon trading will which is 11%, it shows that the project is economically
significantly lower the LCOE of the system. However, feasibility. The LCOE of the HK diesel hybrid system
during the dry month the diesel-powered generator covers the calculated in this study is about $0.425. However, if we
energy demand the amount of Carbon product emitted is account for the amount of carbon emission reduction by
shown in Table 7. applying carbon cap trade approach 145$/year can be
recovered. This helps to bring down the LCOE of the
Table 7. Amount of Emission system. According to our study, the initial capital cost
Quantity Value Unit required is about $29,671, which is unfordable by individual
residents. As a result, to examine possible application of HK
Carbon dioxide 2803 kg/yr
we recommended the project should be initiated by
Carbon monoxide 21.2 kg/yr community level or private sector. Also, to render positive
Unburned Hydrocarbons 0.772 kg/yr externalities government should affirm an initiation to
Particulate Matter 1.29 kg/yr mitigate the risk posed on HK technologies by developing an
Sulfur Dioxide 6.88 kg/yr energy subsidy policy to promote the private sector.
Therefore, HK is a newly emerged Renewable technology
Nitrogen Oxides 24.1 kg/yr
which is especially new to Ethiopia market can be considered
as a viable option to power rural resident located out of the
4.5. Risk Matrix of Hydro-kinetic Turbine grid reach.
For the application of Hydro-kinetic turbines, the following References
risks are identified as; [5, 15, 32]
Risk 1: Lack of policy support and public attitude [1] S. C. Bhattacharyya, Energy economics: concepts,
Risk 2: Un-expected flood and intermittent flow rate issues, markets and governance. Springer Science &
Risk 3: Infancy of Hydrokinetic technology Business Media, 2011. (Book)
Risk 4: Conflict of interest with irrigation [2] A. Z. Aktas, “A Review and comparison of renewable
Risk 5: Interest to invest in renewable energy energy strategies or policies of some countries,” in 2015
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qualitative probability (low, medium and high) of occurrence 643. (Conference paper)
and the other axis identifies the seriousness of impacts of [3] J. A. Fay and D. Golomb, Energy and the Environment.
these risks in qualitative terms (low, medium, high) Table 8 Oxford University Press Oxford, 2002. (Book)
shows the risk analysis of hydrokinetic turbines. [4] D. D. Guta, “Determinants of household adoption of
solar energy technology in rural Ethiopia,” J. Clean.
Table 8. Risk matrix impact probability analysis Prod., vol. 204, pp. 193–204, 2018. (Article)
[5] D. Guta and J. Börner, “Energy security, uncertainty and
Probability/Impacts Low Medium High energy resource use options in Ethiopia: A sector
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